psychology assignment

Stress Inventory Assignment Instructions

This assignment asks you to evaluate the stress level in your life and how that stress relates to your health. Follow the directions below.

1. Fill out one of the two following stress inventories: the College Life Stress Inventory or the Social Readjustment Rating Scale. The College Life Stress Inventory was designed for standard college students. If you are a working adult with a family and feel that the scale does not apply to you, fill out the original Social Readjustment Rating Scale. For either inventory, pick out those events that apply to you and record them on a separate piece of paper. You will be creating an inventory of significant life events that you have experienced in the last 12 months. Write down the events along with their corresponding Stress Rating (the number to the right of the event). Add up all of the stress rating scores to compute your total stress rating. If an event occurred multiple times in a year, then multiply that value by the number of occurrences. For example, finals week is something that students typically experience more than once a year. Therefore, you would multiply the value ascribed to finals week by the number of finals weeks you have had (typically that would be 3 times a year, not including summer quarter). For more habitual behaviors or events, such as lack of sleep, multiplying them by the number of occurrences would be too much, so multiply those by how many quarters you have experienced them. Finally, compare your Total Stress Score with the standards shown below.

STANDARDS FOR COLLEGE LIFE STRESS INVENTORY: Score and Description

· 0-590 : Very low to low. Person scoring in this range should be suffering very little stress. Their chances of suffering illness or crisis are small.

· 591-1030 : Scores in this range indicate that you are experiencing MILD stress with a possibility of crisis or illness being fairly low – about 33%

· 1031-1470 : Scores in this range indicate a MODERATE stress situation. This could result in a greater possibility of accident, illness, or some other crisis – about 50%

· 1471-2351+:  Those scoring in this range are experiencing high to extremely high levels of stress and therefore run a much higher risk of crisis or illness. This is considered a major risk area, about 80% chance of experiencing some problems (especially for those scoring higher than 2000 LCUs)

STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL READJUSTMENT RATING SCALE: Score and Description

· 0-150  : Scores in this range suggest a low level of stress and a low probability of developing a stress-related disorder.

· 150-199  : Scores in this range indicate a mild amount of stress. A person scoring in this range has a 33% chance of having a stress related illness. 

· 200-299  : Scores in this range indicate a moderate amount of stress. This could result in a greater possibility of accident, illness, or some other crisis – about 50%

· 300+  : Those scoring in this range are experiencing high to extremely high levels of stress and stand an almost 80% chance of getting sick in the near future.

2. Once you have derived your total stress rating score from either inventory and read the description of the score above, in a text file indicate how you feel about the significance of your score and answer the following questions. Be sure to provide thorough answers to each of these questions. Points will be deducted for one sentence answers.

a. Are you surprised by your score?

b. Did you expect it to be higher or lower? Explain why you expected a particular score.

c. Has this been a typical year for you? If so, describe how this has been a typical year. If not, explain how this year differed from previous years.

3. Below is a list of health problems that are common in the population. Think back over the past year and see if you can recall having had some of these. Check off all those you can remember and arrive at a total (1 point for each health problem you marked off).

Allergies	Cough	High blood pressure	Sexual problems	Appendicitis
Hives	Shortness of breath	Asthma	Dental problems	Indigestion
Athlete’s foot	Depression	Injury to joints	Eczema	Backache
Insomnia	Skin rash	Blisters	Earache	Kidney problems
Bloody nose	Eye problems	Major accident	Sore throat	Menstrual problems
Boils	Stomach problems	Bruises	Hay fever	Minor accident
Chest pain	Headaches	Muscle strains	Ulcers	Colds
Nausea	Urinary problems	Constipation	Hernia	Nerves (Anxiety)
Arthritis	Acne	Abdominal pain	Cuts	Sinus Problems
Diarrhea	Sleep problems	Flu	Tonsillitis	Hearing loss
Vomiting	Dizziness	Other

4. Finally, answer the questions below. Be sure to provide thoughtful answers to these questions. Support your reflections with your analyses above and any relevant experiences you have had. One-sentence answers will not result in full credit for this assignment.

a. In which of the stress rating categories did you find yourself? Does this seem to fit in with your idea about your stress level and possibility of crisis or illness?

b. How many health problems did you have in the past year? How does your level of health problems compare with your stress rating score? Do you see any relationship between the two?

c. Are you taking any significant steps to reduce the stress level in your life? Do you see any need to do so? Do you use any of the coping strategies discussed in the Coping with Stress lecture? Do you think your attitude toward the stressors in your life affect your body’s ability to cope with stress.

5. When you are done answering all of the questions (2a-2c & 4a-4c), submit your document to Canvas.